Trudy joins Cumbria Police in Whitehaven for their busiest shift of the year

This week, Trudy joined Cumbria Police in Whitehaven for a ‘work experience’ style night shift on one of the local force’s busiest nights of the year.

Ahead of her shift, Mrs Harrison attended a briefing session, before having a tour of the station’s custody suite and meeting the force’s canine counterparts.

Discussing the issues and challenges faced by Cumbria Police, Mrs Harrison was keen to learn more around the increasing demand on policing involving mental health and vulnerability, Mrs Harrison said: “I had a wonderfully informative visit on December 21st where I was able to gain a real insight into the incredible commitment and challenging work undertaken by all in Copeland’s local force and indeed across the county.

Mrs Harrison made up part of the team who were called to a number of incidents including a report of a disturbance at a local hotel.

“My shift was an experience I will never forget – on arrival at the station in Whitehaven, I was made to feel welcome and at ease and I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with PC Macleod and PC Quinn about their roles, as well as of course meeting police dog handler PC Akam and his three dogs, which was a highlight for me, particularly the detailed explanation of their deployment and the various scenarios when police dogs are invaluable.”

Inspector Bennett, said: “Having Trudy Harrison MP come out on the ‘Festive Friday’ night shift, which is historically one of the busiest nights of the year for us, was a great opportunity for us to show our local MP the commitment our officers have and the challenges and issues that officers face on a daily basis in keeping the people of West Cumbria safe.”